


When You Can't

by ThereisNoTragedyinThat



Series: 30 Days of Whump-Cherik Edition [10]
Category: X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: 30 Day Whump Prompt Challenge, Boys In Love, Dom/sub Undertones, Don't copy to another site, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Protective Erik Lehnsherr, X-Men: First Class (2011)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-20
Updated: 2019-07-20
Packaged: 2020-07-09 06:13:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19882939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThereisNoTragedyinThat/pseuds/ThereisNoTragedyinThat
Summary: Charles is very good at overworking himself. Erik is good at taking care of him.Day 10: Manhandling





	When You Can't

**Author's Note:**

> As always, link in the first story will take you to the prompt list.
> 
> Day 10: Manhandling

It was late when Erik realized he hadn’t seen or heard Charles for most of the day. On their second day in the mansion, Charles had slipped away to an old study, claiming lots of paperwork was involved in re-opening the estate and Erik didn’t question it. Raven had taken up entertainment duties, or so it seemed, and was currently parading the others around.

Erik had sequestered himself in the old library Charles had pointed out to him the night before. It was large, with floor to ceiling bookshelves and actual rolling ladders to reach their soaring heights. He was confident he wouldn’t be disturbed here and found himself spreading Shaw’s file out on the oak desk and peering at the familiar information for the hundredth time since stealing it from the CIA.

There was, of course, nothing new to discover. After spending the entire morning there, idly examining the spines of books and even reading a couple chapters of the few that managed to catch his attention, Erik found himself growing restless and finally ventured onto the estate. He carefully tracked a trail that he would use for his morning runs from then on out and had to admit it was all very beautiful.

The rest of the day was uneventful. The children kept themselves busy, since training wouldn’t begin until tomorrow and Erik only found himself missing Charles long after the sun had gone down. He frowned at the realization and began to hunt for his lover.

Usually, getting Charles’s attention wasn’t difficult, he was always sitting there in the back of his mind. He wasn’t invasive, simply there, at attention, waiting to be needed or wanted. Erik had grown unnaturally used to the sensation and wasn’t sure how he felt about missing it. 

It took longer then it should have. Many of the hallways in the upper level acted like mazes with identical brown doors and plain hallways. Finally, Erik had simply closed his eyes and called out as gently as possible into the empty space in his head.

_Charles?_

_This way._

It almost felt like an invisible rope, tugging him in the proper direction. It turned out he’d already passed the right door multiple times. Erik paused only a moment, something feeling inexplicably wrong about the tone of Charles’s voice. He sounded…thin? Drawn tight. It just wasn’t right.

He entered and immediately felt his powers stretch out and curling around familiar shapes of metal. There were paperclips and pens, loose coin and screws scattered everywhere. Most importantly, however, was the feeling of Charles’s watch, warm from contact with his skin and practically begging Erik to grip it.

Charles himself was sitting at the large oak desk with a tired, drawn expression, like he’d been going three rounds with Emma Frost and not simply settling estate accounts. Erik had been right; the situation was utterly wrong, and he was determined to remedy it.

Bright, weary blue eyes glanced over at him, “is everything alright? Do you need a hand with something?”

Erik just raised an eyebrow and stalked closer to where Charles sat, “yes.”

He blinked, “of course, what is it?”

Erik was next to the desk now, staring down at Charles who was frowning just a bit, “I need you to come to bed with me, now. You haven’t eaten anything all day so we’re going to do that and then you are getting a good night’s sleep.”

Charles was already shaking his head, “there’s too much to do. I’ll come to bed soon, but I still have a few phone calls to make and accounts to work through-”

He was reaching across the desk for another stack of papers and Erik didn’t even have to really think to make that arm freeze halfway to its goal. Charles stilled, staring at his watch, currently holding that hand immobile. Erik waited to see his reaction.

Charles could put an end to it with barely a thought and that was the only reason why Erik felt like he could do this without freaking him out. As it was, Charles turned his head to look up at him, eyes slightly narrowed, but amusement gleamed in his blue eyes.

“Really?”

Erik kept his face impassive, “you need to sleep well if you want to train the boys tomorrow. We can’t afford mistakes. You can’t look after others if you can’t look after yourself first.”

Charles bit his lip, considering and Erik decided to take a calculated risk. He was very good at those. Standing from where he’d been leaning against the desk, he murmured, “come on.”

The watch forced Charles’s hand toward him, gentle but unyielding until Erik could take his wrist in a firm grip and yank him up and out of his chair. Unsurprisingly, Charles stumbled, balance thrown off and landed directly into Erik’s chest.

Without ceremony, Erik wrapped an arm around his waist and tugged him toward the door even as Charles spluttered in indignation, “Erik, that is unnecessary.”

“But you like it.”

Before Charles could come up with a response beyond the surprise and embarrassment and affection he was projecting, Erik gave a firm pull on his belt buckle, forcing him to stop dragging his stubborn feet.

Erik ducked down, unable to keep his smile from his face and murmured in Charles’s ear, “its alright. If you can’t take care of yourself, I’m more then happy to do it. By force if necessary.”

Amusement coloured Charles’s projection, then quite clearly; _I have half a mind to let you._

 _Good. I’m going to drag you to our bedroom and make use of that lovely ironwork around the frame to make sure you stay put while I get you something to eat. No complaints and no moving. Understood_? He watched Charles’s expression closely, looking for any signs of unease but found only a soft, warm smile.

_Yes Erik._

_Good boy._


End file.
